Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Monday 11th January 2010

Small business could miss out on land tax rebate

Tens of thousands of Tasmania small businesses could miss out on land tax rebates this year as a result of Labor’s convoluted rebate process.

Most small businesses are not the owners of the land they operate from but have land tax reflected in their lease agreements.

It is up to their landlord to claim the rebate and pass that through to their tenants.

Given the convoluted and time consuming 17-page form required to claim the rebate, there is no incentive for landlords to claim the rebate this year, given that their tenants will continue to pay the higher rate of land tax in their current lease agreements.

The Premier and Treasurer must ensure that businesses who have paid Land Tax will get the rebate, regardless of whether they own the land on which they operate their business or not.

It is absurd that Mr Bartlett is forcing landlords and businesses to fill out a seventeen page application form for this rebate.

It will cost business time and money. In some cases more than the value of the rebate they will get back.

By comparison, the simplified Australian Tax Office tax return is only four pages long.

It demonstrates how rushed these changes by Mr Bartlett were. These are the sorts of problems Labor has experienced time and time again when it makes policy on the run.

The Government must urgently re-write the application process.